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BCA: Officer fired shots after woman pointed BB gun at him
Amanda Nelson is charged with two counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle.
ST PAUL, Minn. — An officer with the South Lake Police Department fired multiple shots after a woman pointed a BB gun at him while she was trying to flee police, according to officials.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) released new information on Tuesday detailing what led up to an officer firing their weapon during a pursuit. Among the new details released by the BCA was the identity of the officer — Zachary Robertson, who has 18 years of law enforcement experience. According to the release, Robertson is on standard administrative leave.
The woman involved was 33-year-old Amanda Nelson, who was charged last week with two counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle in connection with the incident. Nelson is also charged with one count of fugitive from justice from another state, stemming from an arrest warrant previously filed in Illinois.
According to the criminal complaint, Nelson first got on police radar in the city of Excelsior, when a South Lake Minnetonka police officer ran her vehicle’s plates. The complaint said the officer, later identified as Robertson, learned Nelson was wanted on an active warrant for a handful of charges, including aggravated battery, in the state of Illinois.
The BCA said Robertson attempted to pull over Nelson, but she didn’t stop and a pursuit began. Another officer joined the pursuit and used a pit maneuver to stop Nelson near the North Coop Restaurant in Excelsior. According to the BCA, an officer saw Nelson had a gun and alerted Robertson and dispatch over the radio. Robertson pulled his squad in front of Nelson’s vehicle to prevent her from driving off, and that’s when the BCA said Nelson pointed a gun at Robertson.
Court documents say Nelson pointed a black handgun through the driver’s side window, and footage from one of the officer’s body-worn cameras captured him yelling “Gun, gun, gun! She’s got a gun!”
The BCA said Robertson fired “multiple times” through his windshield, adding that Nelson wasn’t injured and eventually drove away from the scene. Court documents say Robertson fired five shots before Nelson drove away.
Officers continued their pursuit, and eventually stopped Nelson’s vehicle with a pit maneuver near Highways 41 and 5, according to the BCA. After an almost four-and-a-half-hour standoff, prosecutors said Nelson was finally removed from her vehicle by law enforcement and taken into custody.
The BCA said a black Smith & Wesson BB gun air pistol was found in Nelson’s car. BCA agents are still reviewing both body camera footage as well as squad car footage of the incident.
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Michelle Kelley’s family said her blood alcohol content was nearly three times above the legal limit.
ELIZABETH, Indiana — An Ohio family claims a woman was served excessive amounts of alcohol prior to her death at Caesar’s Southern Indiana earlier this year.
Michelle Kelley, of Westerville, Ohio, died on March 28 while staying at the hotel and casino.
The lawsuit, filed last Tuesday on behalf of her estate and husband Jason Kelley, said Kelley was served at least 17 alcoholic drinks despite allegedly being visibly intoxicated.
Court documents said Kelley’s blood alcohol content was .222, nearly three times the legal limit. The lawsuit said the alcohol contributed to and was a “proximate cause” of her death.
Attorneys accused the casino of breaching its duty of care, saying their actions were “willful, reckless and grossly negligent.” The lawsuit names EBCI Holdings LLC, VICI Properties Inc., and “unknown servers” as co-defendants.
The family wants the case to go before a jury and are seeking $15 million in damages.
A spokesperson for Caesar’s Southern Indiana told WHAS11 they would not be commenting on the pending litigation.
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The Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office says the man killed in what appears to be an attempted carjacking was 55-year-old Jerome Skluzacek of New London.
WILLMAR, Minn. — The Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office has identified the victims of a shooting spree that started in Minneapolis and ended near Willmar Tuesday with one man dead and another wounded.
Office spokesman Imran Ali said in a press release Wednesday that 55-year-old Jerome Skluzacek of New London was fatally shot in what investigators described as a carjacking attempt on Highway 23 near Willmar. Earlier, the suspect reportedly shot 25-year-old Peter Mayerchak at a rural home in Lake Lillian.
The alleged shooter is a 25-year-old man from Minneapolis who is currently being held in the Kandiyohi County Jail on probable cause second-degree murder. KARE 11 generally does not identify suspects until they are formally charged, a process that the sheriff’s office says will not happen on Wednesday.
Irman Ali also shared that Kandiyohi Sheriff Eric Tollefson and several of his deputies were witnesses to the fatal shooting, and will not comment on the case publicly.
“The deputies and other law enforcement officers that responded and apprehended the suspect risked their lives to protect their communities. These women and men are true heroes,” Ali wrote.
Both Minneapolis police and Kandiyohi sheriff’s officials say the incident began Tuesday around 12:30 p.m. when MPD officers were dispatched to a domestic violence call at an apartment building at 29th and Lyndale. Officers learned shots had been fired from an apartment balcony but no one was hurt. Chief Brian O’Hara told reporters that the suspect and the woman who rented the apartment had a child together who was soon located safe at a daycare in Minneapolis.
Crisis negotiators were able to reach the 25-year-old suspect by phone but were unable to convince him to surrender. They say the alleged gunman shot and wounded Mayerchak at a residence in Lake Lillian before leading law enforcement on a high-speed chase. When he got near Willmar, law enforcement said the suspect shot and killed Skluzacek in an attempted carjacking.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Metro Transit Police Department is investigating an incident where two people were hurt after a car crashed into a bus stop in northeast Minneapolis.
Metro Transit police officers responded to the scene at Central and 27th Avenues shortly after noon. There they found the two victims, who police believe were inside the bus shelter when the car crashed into it. They were transported to Hennepin County Medical Center, according to the department.
Both of their conditions are currently unknown. The driver of the car has been arrested.
